Life Long Love: Chapter 10
Author: Emerald Thorn
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Not mine though I now own their bathroom and Brenna8 owns their library. We're still negotiating on the sitting room and bedroom.
Genre: Romance, Drama, Veela!Draco with a bit of twisted soul mate theory thrown in the mix. Definitely diverging from canon now...
Author's Notes: At the end along with reviews.
oOo
Seeing Draco not moving against the far wall broke something in Harry. The suddenness of not having Draco with him chilled him and he was terrified by the silence of their bond. Draco didn't respond except for a faint sensation of incredible pain. Turning the direction from which the blasting hex had come, Harry's breathing became labored and a burning sensation filled him as his veins ran cold from the molten lava they had been moments before.
Face contorting into an angry snarl, Harry felt something change as he continued to reach mentally for Draco. Scents assaulted his nose as there was a slight ripple in his line of vision. A man-shaped ripple. Moving more quickly than he ever had in his life, Harry leaped forward before the ripple could move again and pinned the figure to the rug covered floor as he ripped off the invisibility cloak.
Ron Weasley's startled pale face looked up at him in surprise as Harry reached deep within himself and flung Ron against the wall with a great deal of magical force. On impact there was a snapping sound and Ron yelped in shock and pain. Right hand extended with palm facing Ron, Harry was unaware of who was exactly in front of him. The man had attacked Draco and would die if Draco died. Otherwise his fate would be left up to Draco. It was his mate's place to determine adequate revenge for interrupting their coupling and causing pain.
"If he doesn't wake up you will never see outside of these rooms ever again," Harry spat. Waves of magical energy distorted the air around him as his eyes glowed brightly, almost blinding Ron with their intensity. Ron only could whimper in fear of the creature that stood where he once had seen his best friend. The once well lit room now seemed dark, as if all the light in the room had been pulled and condensed into Harry with waves of pain and anger radiating dangerously as the furniture slowly began to move outwards from where Harry stood protectively between Ron and Draco.
Abandoning Ron who remained pinned to the wall, Harry crossed the room to where Draco lay. Checking that Draco's breathing was regular, Harry moaned in pain as he noted the growing amount of blood coming from a large gash in the side of his mate's head. The black fur underneath Draco's hair shone wet from the amount of blood Draco had lost during Harry's confrontation of his attacker. Pale platinum strands that usually seemed to glow now seemed dull and muted as they stood out in contrast from the scarlet blood and ebony carpet.
'Ko, Ko please answer me,' he pleaded mentally with his mate. Carefully brushing Draco's flaxen hair back from the gash in his head as Harry gathered him into his arms. Gently lifting Draco, Harry slowly and with great care took Draco to their bed while ignoring the screams of pain and rage coming from Ron.
Laying Draco down, Harry choked back sobs as he checked Draco over for further injury. The only obvious injury was the gash that ran down the side of Draco's face from hairline to the point of his jaw. Grabbing the bed sheets, Harry pressed the cloth to the wound to stem the bleeding. Harry did not sense the other presence in the room until a ghostly, but quite solid and alive hand reached in front of his own face to help him press the now scarlet fabric to the side of Draco's face.
Already tense, Harry snarled as he jerked out of the grip and turned to face whoever had dared to enter his and Draco's private rooms. Standing before Harry was a young man who looked remarkably similar to Draco. Long silver blonde hair cascaded like a waterfall from the beautifully sculpted face with the same Malfoy grey eyes to end in a complex braid of twisted silver clips and hair that fell almost to the back of the man's knees. The man was shorter than either he or Draco but had the same compact lithe build that Draco did. He was wearing an odd set of jet colored wizard robes that reminded Harry greatly of the robes that Draco had in his closet at the vale.
"You need to help him," The pale man said, his eyes focused on Harry and waiting patiently for Harry to calm down and talk with him.
"Who are you?" Harry asked, highly irritated that the man who looked an awful lot like Draco was still holding the soaked cloth to Draco's face.
"That's not overly important right now. You need to help your mate or it will take him weeks to recover fully the amount of energy that was pushed from him and the damage it has done to your bond."
The man was officially in trouble with Harry as soon as Draco's health had cleared. Suspending his need for immediate answers, Harry simply glared at the man and asked, "How can I help him?"
"Hold his hands with yours and get in the bed with him," the man gestured, still not taking the cloth from Draco's face as he waited for Harry to climb in beside his mate. "Clear your mind and think only of the bond between you and your mate. It may help if you close your eyes."
Harry did as he said, chafing slightly under the smooth commands that sounded so much like his own mate's voice.
"Once you have found the link, follow it until you find the source of his side of the bond." Harry followed the connection, calling in his mind for Draco as he projected into his mate. Following the path deeper and deeper into Draco, Harry slid through the barriers erected around Draco's mind with some difficulty as he followed the now glowing connection between them. Mist curled around him and tugged at his body as he traveled. He was vaguely aware of the quiet commands he followed when he reached the final barrier and it fell at his touch. Following the instructions, Harry enveloped Draco with his own mind and called Draco back from unconsciousness.
'Harry,' Draco called weakly from the clouds of mist that surrounded them both. Following the call of his mate, Harry found Draco lying panting on the ground looking exhausted. Sweat and grim covered the bright hair and pale skin, but Draco's eyes were as bright as ever as they locked upon Harry and he spread his arms to reach out for Harry.
Sobbing partly in relief, Harry engulfed Draco with his mind. From far away he could hear the other voice telling him to focus on his magic and bring it forth. Holding onto Draco as if he would never again let go, Harry pulled his magic from deep within himself as he had when he had cast the eye repair spell. Bubbling to the surface, a soft silvery blue glow surrounded the mental representations of both Draco and he. Obeyingly, Harry followed the guidance of the voice as he slowly let the magic flow outwards to heal the injury to Draco's head while he held onto Draco's mind.
Harry could feel it as Draco's skin closed up as if it were his own, the dull ache in his body echoing the pain that Draco had been in. Draco quivered in his arms, getting as close as possible and almost hiding his larger frame within Harry.
Finally, after what seemed like a small eternity, the pain faded completely and Draco eased his hold slightly on Harry. The other man was calling them back. Draco's eyes met Harry's and they kissed gently before turning to wake.
oOo
Draco stirred lightly, Harry's soft breathing tickling the fine hairs right at the curve of his jaw. His face ached, but it no longer was unbearable and his mind was fuzzy but his first priority was making sure Harry was not hurt by whoever had blasted Draco. Moving with evident stiffness, Draco carefully checked Harry's limbs for damage. When no bruises or other injuries were found, Draco sighed in relief while sizing up the stranger who had taken a seat on the end of the large bed and was looking at them.
Harry chose that moment to wake up. Clutching at Draco as he took bearing of his surroundings and focused on the stranger, Harry only briefly took his eyes from the stranger so he could assess the healing laceration. Draco's skin was closed, but a faint line of scar tissue was visible—adding a rakish quality to Draco that Harry found quite appealing but also troubled him because it showed that Draco was not immune to harm. The man at the end of the bed was now smiling warmly at them and waiting for them to speak.
"Who are you and how did you get into these rooms?" Draco asked, his voice neutral as his training took over to bring his Malfoy mask firmly into place.
"I'm a distantly related family member of both of yours. I've experienced the type of bond that the two of you are forming and I sensed that you were in danger and felt inclined to check up on you," the man said, his rich tenor voice reminding Draco of his own in a very freakish way.
"Then I'm assuming you have a name," Draco said with narrowed eyes as Harry squeezed his hands where they were still connected. Subtly Draco shifted so he was between Harry and the unknown man who had yet to prove that he was not a threat.
"I do, but we really should wait until my mate shows up. He was out when I sensed your blood had been spilt."
Draco was feeling like he was interrogating himself with all these avoidant answers. "Who is your mate?"
"I'm sure you know him. He was quite notorious even when we first mated." The man now had a silly little smile on his face, his eyes bright and sparkling. The change in the man as he mentioned his mate was quite pronounced and Harry knew instinctively that this man was also a veela like Draco. Also, Harry was wondering why he felt no pull to the other man if he was a veela. Then again, Harry had not noticed any sort of pull towards Draco since they had mated other than act as a madly in love couple. If you discounted the unusual urges he had been having towards Draco since last night, they had been acting like any normal married couple. Harry's attention was brought back to the matter at hand by the tense wave of worry that Draco was unable to stop from sliding down the bond.
"And his name?" Draco asked, getting beyond frustrated and remaining calm only because of Harry's solid presence by his side.
"Godric Gryffindor, well at least I'm assuming that you're asking what my name is since Sal's being his usual difficult complicated self," answered a man with a mane of ebony hair long enough to rival Sal's and decorated with similar gold clips. Godric seemed to pop into existence slightly behind Sal.
"Somehow I always pictured you as having red hair," Harry blurted out in shock as his grip tightened on Draco. He was trying very hard not to give into shock and general exhaustion.
"No, I always felt that was Helga's territory. Sal and I have always been obstinately obtuse if you are referring to our house colors for Hogwarts," Godric replied with a smile while taking a seat next to Sal.
oOo
Hermione nervously sat through lunch eyeing the entrance with trepidation. Ron had slipped away to follow Draco who was being excused from classes due to his headache. Ron had told her he would follow Draco until he reached the dormitory then meet her back in the Great Hall for some lunch and discussion about what they had each observed. Frankly, Hermione was beginning to suspect that something entirely more important than she could have ever originally suspected was going on right under the noses of the entire student body. Frankly, Hermione smelled something off in the wind and swore she could trace it back to the Slytherins.
Hermione briefly contemplated trying to find Ron, but without Harry's map it would be almost impossible to navigate the dungeons without arousing suspicion. Also, she had never been to the Slytherin common room like Harry and Ron had so her chances of even finding the entrance was minimal.
Sitting through lunch, Hermione fidgeted nervously becoming more and more worried as lunch drew to a close. Ron had not shown by the time she had to leave for charms. Dumbledore gave her an appraising look as he left with Flitwick but made no move to talk to her. Snape was the last of the faculty to leave, heading back towards the dungeons for double potions with the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw third years, and ignored her completely. By the time Hermione finally left for charms, there was only a handful of younger students using the great hall as a place for study group and a late lunch.
oOo
Snape strode confidently into his godson's rooms during his free afternoon period, reading one of the latest journals of potion making that he subscribed to as he walked. As soon as he entered the main sitting room, he came face-to-face with an unconscious Ron Weasley plastered to the far wall, a grimace of pain on his face while his red hair was pasted with blood and sweat to his head. Looking around the rest of the room, Snape didn't see Draco or Harry anywhere.
Sniffing slightly as the smell of urine reached his nose, Snape couldn't help looking somewhat concerned as he neared the pinned boy who was still breathing but a sloshing sound accompanied each breath. There was no evidence of any sort of physical restraint on the boy so he took out his wand and tried finite incantum. He wasn't particularly surprised when Weasley wasn't released.
Moving on to other spells, Severus tried several other common release spells which did not do anything. It was quite possible that the restraints were made from veela magic and there would be nothing Snape could do about them. Refraining from touching Weasley, Snape moved to the fireplace and started a fire before throwing a bit of powder into the grate and calling Blaise who was currently hunched over a steaming cauldron with his divination text balanced precariously on one knee as he stirred.
"Blaise, I need you to come to the suite's common room," Snape said calmly while keeping one eye on Weasley to make sure he continued breathing.
At his name, Blaise's head snapped up and the book that had been balancing fell with a loud thwap to the granite floor. "Now?"
"Preferably. It seems that Weasley managed to gain entrance. He may have done something rash and I would prefer to confront Draco with someone to get help should I need it."
"I'll be right there," Blaise assured Snape as he picked his book up and threw it in his open bookbag.
TBC...
Response to Reviews:
Iana Moon: at least you didn't have to wait as long as everybody else...
Arigazi: Erm... I might point out if you curse me I will probably have to work even slower at writing... unless of course you curse me to type faster which may or may not help ;). I see Ron as having a much more volatile reaction than your normal person. Also, when you think about it, it could have looked really really bad to him. Sorry this took forever—I had some issues crop up in RL and writing the middle parts.
Lillie chan: How could I leave it off there? How could I not? It was too tempting and it really did make a great hook ending.
Crimson Shadow of Light: Here's the next chapter—don't die on me!
Geminidragon: It seems everyone wants to kill me for that last cliffhanger. Hopefully this chapter ends in a better spot for you.
Alora: I don't know if I could write a truly abusive Lucius. I think he would see it as a waste of time to physically abuse Draco. Now emotional neglect or abuse I could see. I chose to make him amusing in this story because he so often isn't. Hope you like Harry's reaction (even if it's not totally over yet!).
Zoomaphonethepirate: Cute? Well okay I can deal with that—I guess. I was going more for balancing drama, romance, and humor so nobody thinks their problems are depressing or too sugary. It's always good to hear someone thinks it's good to see the Malfoy family being at least semi-normal.
Chisox727: Sorry for the long wait but hopefully this chapter semi-makes up for it.
Smirking1: I'm not going for Blaise/Severus and actually it kinda seems weird to me that people seem to think that's where they're going. I'm thinking Blaise is doomed to be a singleton like Severus but we'll see. I'm not trying to make Ron and Hermione bad characters or annoying but I kind of need them to react certain ways for the plot so I'll try to keep them close to their normal characterization. Needy Harry does indeed have a reason but you won't find out for a bit longer.
Roslyn Drycof: There does seem to be a shortage of plot in veela stories—not that a story always has to have a plot, it's just nice if it does. I had to stop them there for a reason which you will hopefully find out soon but we'll see...
Rachel: 'Ko is a shortened form of Draco. I really don't like Dray and I don't like Drake so I shortened it even further. I really couldn't see Harry calling Draco 'baby' or 'darling' or 'sweat pea' all the time so I went with 'Ko. Erg... sorry no Blaise/Severus... it just doesn't fit with things...
Kyra2: Yes Ron is a dead man, well not literally yet anyways. Bring on the mainming—we'll see his fate next chapter.
Killer-the-cat: Ron will get what he deserves next chapter. I'm so sorry this took forever.
Eden's Echo: Don't hate them because they're useful for plots..... but you can feel free to find them annoying. I have a best friend like Hermione and its enough to make you tear your hair out.
Brenna8: I want the sitting room...I think it's the fur rug and the huge fireplace. Maybe we should auction off the rest of the suite? Poor Ron.
Child Mage: I've read it and it's good but I'm currently addicted to smallville clex stuff... which is really bad because I have absolutely no free time until may...
Kamui5: Well, Ron's suffering and Hermione's in the dark. I'd say that equals punishment.
Yana5: I can see the death threat Howlers now...
Mon2: How about poor both? It is rude of Ron but then again he strikes me as being fairly clueless when it comes to manners. Maybe he should write miss manners or at least consult Hermione first next time. Now why would you be curious about Godric and Salazar?
Cottoncandy, Zoe, Danielle, Kioratt, Tilted-halo, Lady Jam, Elebereth: Thanks for reviewing.
Everyone, thanks so much for being patient. I knew I was going to introduce two new characters this chapter so I wanted everything to flow right. Hopefully that's happened. I'm already working on ch11 so hopefully it won't be as long a wait this time. Sorry it's a bit shorter than last time!